
ELEVATION VIEW. 



D BEQUETTE, 



SAN FRANCISCO. 



BARRY'S PRINT, 535 CLAY. 















" 






. 30 FT , 






50 FT 






70 FT 



A VIEW OF FLOORS ON EACH ELEVATION. 



FLOUR MILL PROBLEM 

— 02s — 

THE NEW PROCESS 



— BY 



D. BEQUETTE, I^-ventoe. 



CHAEACTER OF THE EXTEEPRISE. 



I have no apology to offer for calling the attention of my fel- 
low citizens to the enterprise described in this little pamphlet^ 
as its successful inauguration will confer a benefit not only 
upon every man, woman and child in the City and County of San 
Francisco, but upon every inhabitant on the Pacific Coast. 
In these pages I shall explain the nature and object of my pro- 
posed enterprise in as few words as possible, trusting to the judg- 
ment and good sense of my readers to supply what I leave out. 
My enterprise is based upon the proposition that if "grain kings'' 
can buy and ship grain to Europe at a profit, aud let Europe 
manufacture it into flour at another profit, we can, by converting 
the grain into flour at this port before shipment, save both profits 
for our own country. I therefore propose to construct, at suitable 
points on our water front, and within easy access to deep water. 
a sufficient number of flour mills to convert our surplus wheat 
into flour before shipping it out of the State, and to erect and equip 
suitable elevators, adjacent to the mills, to admit of unloading 
the grain from vessels into the mills, and loading the flour from 
the mills into ships. It may take as many as ten or a dozen 
mills to accomplish this, but our water front has twice that num- 
ber of eligible mill-sites, some of them within easy reach of both 
rail and ship. Careful observation, however, has convinced me 



2 FLOtJR MILL PROBLEM 

that no better place can be found for an experimental mill tban 
at the foot of Chestnut street. Here is deep water, where ships 
can come up to the wharf at all times to load and unload. 
The locality is out of the way of the bustle of the city, and is con- 
venient for all milling purposes. The title to these sites is in 
the City and State, and the land is under the control of our 
Board of Harbor Commissioners. Now, I propose to form a 
joint stock company, and obtain the privilege of erecting a mill 
or mills upon appropriate sites, for the purpose above specified. 
My long experience (over forty years) as a practical miller and 
millwright has qualified me to suggest what I claim is a feasible, 
practicable, and sure plan for carrying- out this much to be de- 
sired enterprise. Yet I am not eg-otistic, and if any man can sug- 
gest a better or more practical plan, I am ready to yield the 
honor to him, and give my earnest efforts to assist in carrying it 
out. My plan for a flour mill structure is the result of years of 
study, combined with my practical knowledg-e of milling and 
mill-building; and I have submitted it to many of our very 
best citizens, and most of our leading mechanical and practical 
millmen, mill-builders and millers, and it has received universal 
approbation. 

Our city is now ripe for such an enterprise. We have no 
" grain kings," yet there is a larger quantity of surplus grain to 
ship than ever before, and it is bound to increase in the future as 
in the past. 

I am indebted to the " Commercial Herald " for the following 
valuable statistics of wheat and flour shipped by sea from this 
port: 

For the five years ending January 1, 1878, the amount of wheat was 

24,875,176 centals, equivalent to 3,172,854 bbls. flour. 

Flour shipped during same period 1,283,733 " " 

Total for five years 4,456,587 " 

During the current year, from Jan 1 to Oct. 15, the exports have been 

4,145,466 centals of wheat, equivalent to, say 1,586,275 bbls. flour. 

Flour shipped during same period 151,258 " " 

Total this year, to Oct. 15 1,737,813 " 

Now, I take the last amount of wheat, say, from the current 
year to Oct. 15. I claim that the American miller has lost one- 
eighth of the value of 4,145,466 centals of wheat by not grind- 



ON THE NEW PROCESS. 



oig tlie wheat on the city front, and the citv and State have lost 
the benefit of using for feed 1,077,800 centals of bran, shorts 
and screenings. If this amount of feed was consumed about San 
Francisco in the space of nine and one-half months, the increase 
m poultry, swine, and dairy produce would be immense. 



LOCATION OP MILLS. 



I have examined the future milling sites of thisooast, and find 
only two natural centers from which the surplus grain of the 
Pacific States may be shipped, namely: Astoria, Oregon; and San 
Francisco, California. The farmer must forward his wheat to on.e 
of these two points, in order to find a market and reap the bene- 
fit of competition between the foreign and American miller. 

^ The sites on our city front, heretofore referred to, are unoccu- 
pied, and the privilege to build upon them can readily be ob- 
tained. I have examined the coast survey of the harbor of San 
Francisco, and I repeat, that, in my judgment, the best location 
lor a number of flour mills is at the foot of Chestnut street, out- 
side of the sea-wall, and on the center line. 

METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION. 

The mill structure, which will be built in accordance with the 
plan set forth on the accompanying diagram, will occupy the 
space between two piers, which is 200 feet by 130. Referring to 
the plan just mentioned, I append the following specifications: 

THE FOUNDATION. 

Fourteen rpws of piles (each pile 18 inches at the butt) will be 
driven-the rows running from pier to pier, and placed ten feet 
apart from centers, seaward from the seawall, and covering a space 
of 130 by 200 feet, thus leaving a wharfage space of 35 feet in 
width on each side. The piles will be placed five feet apart in 
the rows, on an area of 130 feet square, in the center bf the 200 
feet mentioned, and the remainder 10 feet apart in the rows ex- 
cept where the engine is placed, at which point another row of 
11 piles will be driven, commencing at the center of square No. 
1^4 (see diagram), and running to the line of square No. 138 
and 25 feet from the water's edge. Eight piles will be driven at 
square No. 80, for the foundation of the chimney-stack; and 25 



4: FLOUE MILL PEOBLEM 

piles, five feet apart from centers, will be placed on each side of 
squares Nos. 80 and 81 (a space of 20 by 50 feet) for the founda- 
tion of eight boilers, four on each side of the center line, and fac- 
ing 10 feet from the left hand wharf. The 130 feet square will be 
filled as an offset on the sea-wall. The 14 caps, running from 
pier to pier, are to be 14 by 14 inches. 

THE BUILDING. 

In the center, and at right angles to the 14 rows of caps before 
described, will be placed 14 ties, laid 10 feet apart from centers, 
and covering 130 feet square. The outside posts, forty- eight in 
number, each 12 by 12 inches, will be framed -three feet from the 
end of the beams, to receive the husk roof rafters. The inside 
posts, to be placed as supports, will be 12 by 12 inches, and will 
receive one-half of the beam (10 by 12 inches) running with the 
caps; then at right angles, and 20 feet apart, will be placed ties 
4 by 12 inches, edgewise up, and let in to receive the other half 
of the beam, thus making the beam, with two long yellow-fir tim- 
bers, with heart in the center, placed top and butt-end together, 
12 by 20 inches, and tied across the building. The next beam 
above, which supports the third floor, will be 20 feet shorter, and 
10 by 18 inches, in two pieces, with cross-ties in the same man- 
ner as below. The posts will be 10 by 10 inches. All outside 
posts will be placed 10 feet apart from centers, to receive 
the beams, ties, and plate on top, placed level with each 
floor, and to receive the bottom of a 6 by 8 inch brace 
framed in each post at the bottom of the window, making 
an offset in the roof sufficient to give light and ventilation 
by sliding sash placed on the four sides of the building. The 
windows on each floor will be diminished in size in proportion 
to the size of the room. The rafters to receive the tile will be 2 
by 6 inches, placed on the brace at right angles 12^ inches apart, 
and meet on the hip brace. The outside posts to support the 
fourth floor will be 8 by 10 inches, and placed in the same manner 
as on the floor below. For the fifth and sixth floors, the timbers 
and the outside posts, braces and rafters, are the same as for the 
fourth floor. The outside posts from the sixth floor run up to the 
top plate — the inside posts, four in number, supporting each set of 
beams for the seventh, eighth and ninth floors. The top of the 
building is occupied by a water tank ten feet square, at an eleva- 



OlSr THE NEW PROCESS. O 

tion of 130 feet (being No. 7 on the diagram). The four support- 
ing posts will be placed 10 feet apart from centers, on top of each 
other, from the four center piles to the bottom of the tank. 

From the base, the hip-roof braces, .and all the upper braces 
supporting the roofs on the four sides, incline toward the center 
of the building, by which means solidity of structure is obtained, 
and the rooms are placed in their proper position. Only neces- 
sary space is inclosed, and considerable expense is saved. Eleva- 
tion is .also gained at the least cost, enabling me to place the ma- 
chinery at its proper height and in its correct place. It also ena- 
bles me to make suitable connections, with less shafting, wheels, 
pulleys, elevators and conveyors. Having less of these, their first 
cost is less, as in the case of the walls, and having less machinery 
to drive, power is gained, and the daily expenses of running the 
mill greatly reduced. 

THE ECONOMY OF THE PROPOSED PLAN. 

The following table shows the amount saved in building on the 
plan proposed by me: 

Cost of brick wall (San Francisco rate) saved - $71,000 

Cost of lumber, nails, and labor saved 13,000 

Cost of unnecessary machinery and millwright work saved 12,000 

Total saving in building $96,000 

In addition to this immense saving in the first cost of the mill, 
there are other and important items of economy. There is a gain 
of 25 horse-power by having less machinery to drive, and by the 
more effective arrangement of the machinery the labor of six men 
can be dispensed with. The cartage on 110 tons of wheat, flour, 
and fuel, per day — about $55 — will also be saved. There will be 
less insurance to pay. There will be none of those costly peri- 
odical overhaulings, which are a necessity in all flour mills built 
on the old plan. Furthermore, building according to my system 
renders impossible those terrible explosions of flour mills which 
have from time to time horrified the world, such, for example, as 
the "Tradeston Mills" in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1872; and the 
largest mill ever built in the United States, the '^ Washburn," in 
Minneapolis, which exploded at 7 o'clock p. m., June 2d, 1878, 
with a loss of eighteen lives. 

All these advantages are not theoretical; they are based on 



b PLOUE MILL PROBLEM 

actual facts. But I make a further claim: By the superior facil- 
ities of the flour-mill built on my plan, I will reduce the expense 
of manufacturing wheat int o flour to one-half of the present cost. 
The wheat comes to the mill directly. 

The first floor being 130 feet square, the second floor will be 
110 feet; the third, 90 feet; the fourth, 70 feet; the fifth, 50 feet; 
the sixth, seventh, and eighth floors, 30 feet; the ninth, 10 feet; 
and the top is crowned by a water-tank. The ofi"sets in the 
roof-lines are where the sliding window-sashes are place(^ on the 
•four sides of the building. 

On the first floor is placed the Carliss engine, which is to fur- 
nish the power for driving the machinery of the mill. This engine 
is on the center line, in No. 163, 25 feet from the water's edge, 
where is shown also the miter-gear, which drives the uprights from 
which connection by belt is made to the spindles of the burs, 
placed on the second floor, in Nos. 149 and 151. The circular 
line in No. 163 shows the verge of the fly-wheel. No. 164 shows 
the foot of the center elevator, running up to No. 21. In Nos. 
139 and 152 is shown the receiving separator, placed on the second 
floor, under the receiving (Fairbanks' scale) hopper, which is 
placed beneath the third floor. 

The receiving elevators from the barges, or cars, discharge the 
wheat on the third floor near this receiving hopper. Wheat to 
the amount of 400 bushels is weighed at one time by the Fair- 
banks' scale in this hopper, and is run through the separator at 
the rate of 600 bushels per hour, falling into another scale hopper 
merchantable wheat. From this hopper the wheat is elevated 
to bins placed on each side of the center elevator. This ar- 
rangement gives the correct weight of the wheat. From these 
center bins the wheat is elevated to the hopper in No. 21, on the 
ninth floor, to feed the dustless wheat separator, placed on eighth 
floor. This machine is for thoroughly cleaning wheat from dust, 
dirt, weeds, cockle, chess and oats. It has a capacity of about 
12,000 pounds per hour, and delivers the wheat to the smvitter, 
placed on the seventh floor, in No. 47. This smutter has a sepa- 
rator combined. 

From the smutter the wheat is discharged into the brush- 
scourer (No. 60.) This machine is so constructed and operated that 
it comes in contact with every kernel of wheat in every conceiv- 
able position, and with as much force as the miller chooses, thus 



ON THE NEW PROCESS. 7 

polishing the ends of every grain, and making it ready for the 
grader, placed below, in No. 73. 

This machine extracts the cockle, and removes all screenings, 
dust, etc. The wind acts upon every kernel, weighing it as in a 
balance — the heavy, plump wheat descending into the roller. 
No. 99. The object attained is to give the miller perfect control 
over the different kinds of wheat, so that he can always make the 
same grades of flour. 

All of the machines described are of the same capacity. 

The wheat from the brush machine passes through a spray or 
jet of steam, to dampen it, as it falls in the stock-hopper of the 
roller. ^This machine squeezes or flattens the wheat before it falls 
in the stock-hoppers of the burs, and leaves it in better condition 
for grinding. The burs are now dressed to do the grinding under 
the new process. 

If the new method of milling wheat is valuable at all, it is val- 
uable now, and should be adopted at once. The middlings-puri- 
fier and the roller, combined with my improvements in mill build- 
ing, are the ideas which lie at the very foundation of successful 
milling at the present day. 

In order to accomplish his work, the miller has hitherto been 
obliged to resort to a number of practices now clearly seen to be 
unscientific and illogical. To start the burs on slow, with high- 
grinding granulation, is my idea of the method necessary in mak- 
ing patent or straight grades. 

On leaving the burs, the flour is elevated by a suction fan up 
to the hopper room, placed on the sixth floor. This room is 35 
feet high. The blast loses its force here, and the flour falls per- 
fectly cool in the hopper at the bottom. From this hopper the 
flour is carried by a conveyor to feed the bolting reels, 32 in 
number, placed under the sixth floor, and running parallel with 
the beams from No. 83 to No. 85. The bolting reels are placed 
two side by side, in one chest. The flour mixing bins are placed 
on the third floor, under the bolting- chests. 

In Nos. 135 and 138, on the third floor, is shown the French 
middlings-purifier, which purifies the middlings as they come 
down from the bolting-chests. Passing from the purifier, the 
middlings are ground, elevated to a separate bolting-reel, and 
bolted as first-grade flour, or rebolted with other flour to make 



« PLOUE MILL PKOBLEM 

straight grade. This machine from the land of purifiers 
is probably the best, unless the porcelain-roller mills super- 
sede it. 

The box-flour-packer is placed in Nos. 135 and 148. This mode 
of flour-packing I propose to introduce, as the best for the Euro- 
pean market. The spruce-wood of the Pacific Coast will make a 
suitable and cheap box, designed to contain 98 pounds of flour. 
Two boxes, equaling in capacity one barrel, occupy only 5^ cubic 
feet, while the barrel occupies 7 feet — quite an important item in 
shipping flour abroad. 

All thoroughly successlHil milling must now be conducted on the 
principle of grading flour correctly, and carefully weighing it for 
each box. On that principle, I propose to establish a brand of flour 
for all mills engaged in the milling business under the new pro- 
cess. All concerned can have a general brand, bearing the cor- 
rect grade of the flour, for the outside of the box, while each 
miller has his private trade -mark inside of those passing from his 
particular mill. Such brands of flour would soon make for them- 
selves a recognized place as standard manufactures, and prove 
mutually beneficial to all concerned. 

I am aware that in old mills already full of machinery this ar- 
rangement can generally only be efi'ected at a large expense. 
The purifier must be located where it can be used to the greatest 
advantage. It frequently requires so many changes and altera- 
tions to place a purifier in an old mill, that owners allow them- 
selves to be deterred from the adoption of an improvement which 
is really vital to their interests. Such delay is unwise. The en- 
tire body of millers on the Pacific Coast are aware why so large a 
number of flour mills are for sale. The reason is plain: The 
mills were badly constructed, and without due reg-ard to the im- 
provements in machinery and construction. They cost much 
more than they are worth, and have entailed a legacy of con- 
stantly heavy daily running expenses, with constant costly over- 
haulings and repairings added. 

I am not vain enough to suppose that I can at once revolu- 
tionize the trade in the matter of mill-building, but I design to 
assist in reclaiming all mills that can be fitted to grind under 
the new process, and get their farmers to unite in shipping to 
foreign ports flour instead of wheat. 



ON THE NEW PROCESS. 



THE CHESS-BOAED. 



There is a sort of parallel between the chess-board and chess-game 
and between mill-building and carrying on the milling business. In 
each there are very hard problems to solve. I think, however, 
that the chess-game has the advantage, in having long-established 
principles laid down for its guidance from the first move to the end 
of the game. Not so in mill-building. The true principle of the 
first move has never been established, though the brain of man 
has been trying to solve the problem from the time of Samson 
to the present day. We have as yet no established rule as a 
starting-point. 

I have made an improvement in the milling game, and intend 
to use it to solve the problem of how to establish a successful 
milling business of the very first order. If California has a sur- 
plus of wheat for grinding, where should the mills for the pur-^ 
pos^ be established? In England? My answer is, they should 
be placed on the city front of San Francisco, and built on my plan . 

Any one can see the advantage of my plan over all foreign 
competition in the moves that I may make on the milling-board. 
The first move I propose to make is to follow the straight center 
line of the legitimate milling business — that is, to grind when I 
can purchase wheat, and sell the flour daily, with a reasonable 
profit; or grind for toll, so that every day I will be paid for grinding. 

That is what I call the legitimate business, and all " corners " 
on wheat will be boxed up with 98 pounds of flour and transported 
to the European side of the Atlantic. The miller will deal di- 
rectly with the farmer-producer, who will get the full value of his 
wheat in the open markets of the world. The mill-owner is then 
well paid for grinding the wheat, and a fair profit is left for 
the shipper. 

The principle of my chess-board system of mill -building is the 
ability to move in or out of the four sides of the building, ac- 
cording to the capacity needed for milling and storage. By com- 
paring the small with the large diagram, it will be seen that one 
move is there made, and that three moves can be made and 
still leave a mill-house fifty feet square on the ground and fifty 
feet high. One move out on the large plan would make a base 
150 feet square. Warehouse room can in no way be had so 
cheaply and conveniently as by these increased outside facilities. 



10 FLOt'B MILL PROBLEM 

Two more moves to the outside can be made by lowering the 
roofs and leaving out the two upper stories. This would make it 
necessary to increase the capacity of the Corliss engine, or of the 
turbine wheel, and would make a perfect arrangement for milling. 

But I wish to be distinctly understood. I never make any 
alterations, inside or outside, after a mill on the plan proposed 
by me is already built. I will build a mill or a mill-house 
at the start, with no necessity for subsequent overhaulings, 
and with the intent that it shall stand for milling purposes as 
long as timber, iron and tiles will last. I have been asked 
if I could build such a mill fire-proof. My ansAver is, yes. I 
would even recommend it, where iron is cheap; it could be 
made fire-proof as much as any other structure. As I do not pro- 
pose to use a brick or a stone above the foundation, knowing the 
fact that a wall is a nuisance about a flour-mill, I leave it en- 
tirely, and propose to use in San Francisco our Oregon pine 
■ — that is to say, the red fir, that belt of inexhaustible tiniber 
which is now^ considered rather in the way of farming along the 
coast, I might say, from California, through Oregon, Washington 
Territory, and continuing north to British Columbia. It is worth 
five hundred dollars per acre to make that land ready for the plow. 
Some of that same land has coal mines under the soil, and many of 
these coal mines, not yet worked or even discovered, lie near 
deep water. Seattle coal, for instance, can be delivered to a ves- 
sel at a cost of about one dollar per ton, exclusive of cost of 
transportation to discharge it on the left-hand wharf in front of 
the boilers. The surplus fine coal in discharging vessels can be 
had very low, considering that one ton of this screening is equal to 
four cords of the best four-foot-wood in the market. 

FLOUE-MILL INSURANCE. 

I observe that the question of mill insurance is attracting con- 
siderable attention since the explosion of the Washburn mill, 
and well it may, in view of the present unreasonable rates charged 
by companies for insuring mills. On my plan, the water sup- 
ply to the water-tank placed on top of the house, 130 feet 
high, with a perfect arrangement of pipes and hose in each room, 
and all around the mill, and a tile roof, with the windows placed 
on the four sides of each room, would at once show the locality 
of the fire in time to put it out in case one should occur. 



ON THE n^W PROCESS. 11 

Many houses have been burnt down on account of the walls pre- 
venting the discovery of the fire in time to put it out. Not so in 
my building. The watchman is passing up and down in the ele- 
vator, and is in each room almost every minute in the twenty-four 
hours this elevator is going. When the engine is in motion, 
this is a great convenience to the miller. 

I have thus briefly explained my plan for a mill building, 
pointed out the proper site for its erection, and set out in as con- 
cise a manner as I am able the advantages and benefits to be de- 
rived from following my plans and advice. California cannot 
afford to slight her grain crop. She may have occasional wealth 
in her mines underground, but she has a perpetual source of 
wealth nearer the surface that -can never be exhausted, if it is 
properly and decently taken care of. Her mines have at best a 
fictitious and uncertain value, and they are bound sooner or later 
to be exhausted, leaving a simple hole in the ground. Her agri- 
cultural wealth is perpetual, because it renews itself each year. 
Our farmers must be looked after. We must not turn them over 
to the speculator and grain-sharp to be defrauded of a greater 
part of the value of their crops. Who does not know that a 
large proportion of our agricultural land to-day is heavily under 
mortgage? Who does not also know that the farmers of California 
are groaning under millions of indebtedness? These are facts. 
Search the vaults of our banks, and you will find the paper secu- 
rities stowed away that would, if foreclosed, evict at least half of 
our farmers — that would lay waste our beautiful, productive coun- 
try. Why, I ask, is .this so? A country so productive as ours, 
blessed with so rich and fertile soil and genial climate, should 
possess the happiest, wealthiest, and most prosperous farmers in 
the world. We ought to have the best farmers, the best crops, 
the best stock, the best of everything that pertains to farming 
and pastoral life, in the world; and we would, if our fellow-citi- 
zens — those who live in princely mansions — would pay a little 
more attention, and spend a portion of their means in encouraging 
this source of our wealth. It would also, in the end, be more 
productive of profit to them. Increase of wealth would be sure 
to follow, and an increase based upon permanence. Instead of 
encouraging our farming population, the class referred to use 
every efi"ort to crush it out of existence. The railroad line that 
transports the grain to our water fronts, where it is to be loaded 



12 FLOUR MILL PROBLEM. 

into ships, must charge exorbitant freight; the commission mer- 
chant must charge exorbitant commissions, and the shipper must 
charge exorbitant charter fees; and so, by the time the grain 
reaches its market, the farmer is lucky if he gets enough from it 
to buy his wife a new calico dress and his bare-footed children a 
pair of dollar shoes. "Save money and get rich" is the old 
motto. Keep money in the country and we will soon become 
rich. Every bushel of grain that we ship to Europe is a waste of 
so much money — an exportation of so much wealth that we are 
as much in need of as Europe. 

Let us build our mills here; convert our wheat into flour here; 
save the profits; save the oifal; give our own people the wages 
and the profits, and ship to Europe what she wants — flour. Do 
this, and we stop speculation at the expense of the productive 
class; we break up the rings, prevent "corners," and make our 
country richer. 

The company which T propose to inaugurate will require a 
large sum of money in order to put in operation and carry out 
my plans as they should be. No half-way business must be tol- 
erated. What we need and must have is active business men 
and money. With these, we shall be able to establish such a 
business that our mining speculators will be thrown into the 
shade, and our State, and especially our city, will be immeasura- 
bly benefited by it. I am ready to answer any and all questions 
that may be propounded to me on this subject, and to explain 
more fully and in detail all the surroundings and circumstances 
attendant on this enterprise. I am not an enthusiast, but a 
cool-headed and practical miller. I have long witnessed this 
battle of the producer and the speculator, and have invari- 
ably seen the speculator walk oif with the profits that be- 
longed to the producer, until the above plan for aiding the 
latter matured itself, in my mind. It is now ready. The time is 
propitious, and I call on those who are able to come forward and 
help me accomplish this great and desirable undertaking. 

D. BEQUETTE, 

San Francisco, Nov. 2d, 1878. ^ 1206 Jackson st. 



SUPPLEMENT. 



"We, the undersigned, practical working millers, thorouglily ac- 
quainted witli everj branch of the business of flour milling as 
carried on in the United States, Europe and Canada, after a 
careful study of Mr. D. Bequette's plan for a mill, and for the 
economical handling and milling the surplus wheat produced on 
this Coast, as explained and illustrated in his pamphlet, are con- 
fident that such plan is both practical and desirable, and if car- 
ried out, would be a great benefit to the State, by enabling its 
farmers and merchants to export flour, instead of wheat, thus 
giving employment to a great number of people in the manu- 
facture of flour, and cases to contain it, leaving the bran and 
offal to be used by other branches of industry or production, 
and saving the freight on exports of waste material and the costs 
of imported grain bags, which would collectively effect a saving 
of several millions of dollars annually to the producers and con- 
sumers of breadstuffs. 

The magnitude of this business is presented in the statistics 
published by the Commercial Herald, the leading commercial 
journal of this coast, in its annual Review for 1878. These 
statistics show that during that year we exported 8,062,287 
centals of wheat, and only 489,462 barrels of flour, while the 
carefully prepared returns of the Produce Exchange show 5,781,- 
168 centals of wheat and 75,130 barrels of flour in the State on 
the 1st of January, 1879. But these estimates fall short fully 
5,000,000 centals of wheat that would have been sent here from 
Oregon, Washington and Idaho, to be converted into flour, 
had the milling capacity been available, on the water front, as it 
actually costs less to bring wheat from Oregon by water trans- 
portation, than from many of the interior counties of this State 
by rail. It is no exaggeration to estimate the profit on milling 
such a crop at $5,000,000, besides the saving on the freight to 
Europe of nearly 6,000,000 centals of oft'al, which could be prof- 
itably used for feed of stock, hogs and poultry for the local 
markets. Mr. Bequette's plans, specifications and arrangements 
for building a mill without walls, are perfectly practicable. A 
careful study of these plans and arrangements has satisfied us 
that such a building would give strength solidity, capacity'- and 
altitude, where they are most needed; centralize the motive 



power, and prevent the necessity for useless machinery and 
buildings. Of course, such a mill would enable its proprietors 
to handle large quantities of grain and produce a superior 
article of flour, at less cost than mills built upon the old 
and imperfect methods, while such a mill would cost much less 
than one of the present style of half its working capacity. 

We are confident that when merchants, business men and the 
people generally once have their attention properly drawn to 
the importance of the business of the manufacture of flour in 
this city, they will perceive the advantage of having this 
business conducted by practical and experienced millers and 
machinists, instead of leaving it under the control of speculators. 
Substantially, we employ the same methods in the manufac- 
ture of flour that were employed by our grandfathers, simply 
because no systematized plan has been matured to unite the 
skill and experience of practical millers and machinists, with the 
interests of capital and the public. Every attempted improve- 
ment in this direction has been by capitalists who were not prac- 
tical men, but depended upon the knowledge and experience of 
others, and as a matter of course failed, and caused heavy losses . 
To prevent such a disaster to the present enterprise, Mr. Be- 
quette has secured as his associates, men of varied and long ex- 
perience in the business of milling in all its departments, such 
as warrants us in recommending the proposed plan to the con- 
fidence of the public, and as deserving its hearty co-operation. 
Our confidence in the practicability of Mr. Bequette's mill and 
method of manufacturing flour is such, that we have become 
incorporators of the Cosmopolitan Milling Company, the stock 
of which is offered to the public on liberal terms. It is pro- 
posed to commence the erection of a mill on this plan imme- 
diately, and we shall be pleased to give every information to 
those who wish to unite with us in our enterprise, which cannot 
fail to succeed if once properly under way. 

Office of the Cosmopolitan Milling Company, 712 Sansome 
Street, San Francisco, California. 

MAURICE TIFFAINE, 
LOUIS CLAVEAU, 
JOHN APPLEGARTH, 
F. A. HUBER, 
ALEX. BURKETT. 
San Francisco, March 1, 1879. 



BY-LA^VS OF 
THE COSMOPOLITAN MILLING COMPANY. 

ARTICLE I. 

The stock property and business of the Corporation shall be 
under the care, management and control of a Board of Directors, 
consisting of five; who shall be annually chosen by the Stock 
-holders from their own members at their annual meeting. 

ARTICLE II. 

The Annual meeting of Stockholders for the election of Trus- 
tees and the transaction of other business shall be held in the City 
of San Francisco on the 10th day of February 1880, and on the 
10 th, day of February in each year, unless that date shall fall on 
Sunday, in such case, the election shall be held on the 9th day 
of February. 

Notice of all meetings of Stock-holders shall be given by pub- 
lication for two weeks in at least one of the daily newspapers 
published in the city of San Francisco,or by special notice from 
the Secretary to each Stock-holder. 

No meeting of the Stock-holders shall'be competent to tran- 
sact business unless a majority of the Stock is represented. 
In case a majority of the Stock is not represented, a similar 
notice shall be published and given by the Secretary, calling 
another meeting within thirty days thereafter. Each share of 
Stock shall be entitled to one vote, and each vote may be cast 
by proxy at all Meetings of the Stock-holders. The proxy shall 
be in writing, and filed with the Secretary. 

ARTICLE in. 

The Trustees elected at the first annual meeting of the Stock- 
holders shall serve one year, and until their successors are elect- 
ed. Their term of office shall commence immediately after 
their election. 

Vacancies in the Board of Trustees shall be filled by a ma- 
jority of the Trustees in office, within thirty days after such 
vacancy shall occur, and the person so elected shall hold office 
until the next annual election thereafter. No person who is 
not at the time of election an owner of the Stock in the Company 
standing in his own name on its books shall be eligible to elect- 
ion as a member of the Board of Trustees. 

The Trustees shall present a full statement at the annual 
meeting of the Stock-holders showing in full, and in detail the 
assets and liabilities of the Company, and the general condition 
of its affairs. They shall call a meeting of the Stock-holders, 
and present at the meeting a similar report, whenever so re- 
quested in writing by the Stock-holders representing one third 
of the whole number of shares. 



18 BY-LAVV^S. 



ARTICLE IV. 

The Trustees shall have power to call Meetings of the Stock- 
holders, whenever they deem it necessary. To appoint and 
remove at pleasure, all officers, agents, and employees of the 
Company, and to prescribe their duties, fix their compensation, 
and if necessary require security for the faithful discharge of their 
duties. To naake rules and regulations not inconsistent with the 
Laws of the State of California, or the By-Laws of this Company. 
To declare Dividends out of tlie surplus profits of the Company 
whenever they may deem it advisable. To put stock in market 
as in their opinion, may from time to time be necessary for the 
purposes of the Company. To make all contracts which in their 
judgment will subserve the interests of the company. 
It shall be the duty of the Trustees to cause to be kept a complete 
record of all their official aci& and full minutes of the proceedings 
of all Meetings of the Board and of the Stock-holders. 

To require the Secretary and Treasurer to keep their books 
and accounts in a proper manner. To cause to be issued to the 
Stock-holders in propartion to their respective interests, cer- 
tificates of stock provided that the aggregate amount of such cer- 
tificates of stock so issued, shall not exceed the Capital Stock of 
the Company. 

ARTICLE V. 

It shall be the duty of the Trustees, when in their judgment 
it shall be advisable so to do, to designate some Banking house 
as a depository for all the funds of the Company, and to require 
the Treasurer or the President and Secretary to deposit the 
funds of the Company in the Bank so designated in the name 
of the Company; and no payment 6f the same, or any portion 
thereof shall be made by said Bank, except upon checks or 
warrants signed by the Treasurer, and countersigned by the 
Secretary. The Secretary shall countersign ail checks or warrants 
drawn on the Company's Bankers under the direction of the 
Board of Trustees. 

At the first Meeting of the Board of Trustees, they shall elect 
one of their number to act as President, and elect a Vice Pres- 
ident, Secretary, Treasurer, and appoint a Superintendent. 



BY-LA^VS. 19 



ARTICLE VI. 

PRESIDENT. 

The President shall preside at all meetings of the Trustees 
and of the Stock-holders. He shall sign all certificates of Stock 
and all contracts, and other instruments of writing which have 
been first approved by the Board of Trustees, and affix the cor- 
porate seal to all instruments requiring a seal He shall have 
the casting vote at all meetings of the Stock-holders or Trustees. 

ARTICLE. VIL 

TREASURER. 

The Treasurer shall safely keep all monies belonging to the 
Company in some Bank designated by the Board of Trustees, 
and disburse the same under their direction; and in conformi- 
ty with the By-Laws of the Company. At each annual meeting 
of the Stock-holders and as often as may be required by the Board 
of Trustees; he shall present a full statement of his accounts, 
with proper vouchers. He shall make no payments without the 
authority of the Board of Trustees, and all checks drawn by him 
on theBank must be countersigned by the Secretary, and Presi- 
dent. He shall discharge such other duties as pertain to his 
ofiice, or as may be prescribed by the Board of Trustees. 

ARTICLE VIIL 

SECRETARY. 

The Secretary shall keep a full record of the proceedings at 
the meetings of the Trustees, and Stock-holders. He shall 
keep the Book of Blank Certificates of Stock; fill up and counter 
sign all certificates of stock issued, and make proper entries in 
the stub of such book of each certificate issued; he shall cancel all 
certificates surrendered to him before issuing new certificates in 
lieu thereof, and shall preserve the certificates so surrendered, 
and cancelled as vouchers. He shall keep a transfer book and a 
stock ledger in debit and credit form showing the number of 
shares issued to and transferred by any Stockholder and the date of 
such issuance and transfer. He shall countersign all checks drawn 
on the Bank w^here the funds of tlie Compauy are deposited, keep 
proper account books, and perform such other duties as pertain 
to his ofiice; or may be prescribed by the Board of Trustees. 

The books of the Secretary, and such papers as may be placed 
on file by vote of the Trustees or Stock-holders, shall at all times 
during business hours be subject to th€ inspection of Stock.hol- 
ders. 



20 BY-LAV^S. 

ARTICLE IX. 

SUPERINTENDENT. 

A Superintendent may be appointed by the Board of 
Trustees, and be removed at their pleasure. It shall be the du- 
ty of such Superintendent to take charge of all the property of the 
Company, and control and direct all labor and business pertain- 
ing to the interest, objects and operations of the Milling business 
subject however as far as practicable to the direction and control 
ofthe Board of Trustees. He shall make monthly returns to the 
Board oi Trustees of all persons employed by the Company; 
their wages, time employed; and shall present therewith a 
statement of all expenditures made by him and his vouchers 
therefor. 

Should he require funds he shall make a requisition on the 
Board of Trustees therefor, stating the objects for which the 
funds are required. If approved by the Board of Trustees, the 
money shall be transmitted to him in such mode as they may direct 

He shall also make monthly returns to the Board of Trustees, 
showing the amount of such purchases, the amount of cash and 
credit sales, stock on hand manufactured and unmanufactured; 
striking a balance showing the amount of profit or loss. 

ARTICLE X. 

Certificates of stock shall be of such form and device as the 
Board of Trustees may direct. Each certificate shall be signed 
by the President, and countersigned by the Secretary and shall 
epxress on its face, its number, date of issuance, the number of 
shares for which, and the persons name to whom it is issued. 
Several certificates may be issued to the same person, provided 
that in the aggregate they do not exceed the number of shares 
belonging to such person. The certificate book shall contain 
a stub in which shall be enteied the date and number of 
shares and name of the person expressed in the correspond- 
ing certificate. No certificate of ^tock shall be issued by the 
Secretary to any Stock-holder until the person entitled thereto 
shall have signed the By-Laws of the company. 



BY-LAV/S. 21 



ARTICLE XL 

TRANSFER OF SHARES. 

Shares in the Company may be transferred at any time by the 
holders thereof or by Attorney legally authorized or by their legal 
representative, but no transfer shall be allowed, except as between 
the parties thereto, until the surrender of the ceriificate, and entry 
of such transfer on the books of the company. No transfer of any 
share shall be permitted upon which any payments are then 
due and unpaid; or if the holder thereof is indebted to the company 
on any account whatever, until such account or debt is paid or ar- 
ranged to the satisfaction of the Board of Trustees. 

ARTICLE XII. 

COMPEiXSATION. 

Neither the President nor Treasurer, nor any member of the 
Board of Trustees as such shall receive compensation for their services 

Reasonable traveling expenses shall be allowed by the Trustees 
to the President, or other members of the Board engaged by author- 
ity of the Board of Trustees in the business of the company. The 
Superintendent and Secretary shall respectively receive such com- 
pensation fcr their services as the Board of Trustees may from time 
to time determine. 

ARTICLE XIII. 

AMENDMENTS. 

These By-Laws may be altered or amended at any meeting of the 
Stock- holderb of which notice has been given as provided in Article 
IV by a two-thirds vote ot all shares represented at such meeting. 

CAPITAL STOCK. 

Such amount of the capital stock as the Board of Directors may 
deem necessary to defray the expenses of constructing the first 
Mill will be put upon the market on the following terms. 

Each share thus placed on sale, shall be sold at the par value of 

'One Hundred Dollars; a payment often per cent on each share 

being paid down, and the balance to be paid in monthly payments 

of Ten Dollars per month per share, until the whole amount of the 

par value of each share is paid. 

No certificate of stock shall be issued until the full value of the 
stock is paid up. 



No assessment will be made on the stock of the 
Cosmopolitan Milling Company. 



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'Siroynd Plan and Elevation m th© m\\\ proposed to 'to©) 

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THE 

COSMOPOLITAN 

MILLING COMPANY, 



OF SAN FUANCISCO 





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Milling Problem Ventilated by D. BEQUETTE, Inventor, showing the Ground Plan and Elevation View. Scale, 10 feet to 1 square inch. 



